Our roving reporter recently asked the same five questions of each member of our Select Board. Here's how they answered.
D.J. Garcia, Select Board Chair (2025)
What are you most looking forward to in serving on the Select Board?
I hope to bring new ideas and energy to the Wilton Select Board. I would love if this translates into increased engagement with my neighbors and better outcomes for our businesses, schools and town services. I look forward to being an objective and realistic participant of the town’s government where all of Wilton’s citizens and employees can be heard and respected. I am also excited to look back in a year from now and see the progress that the Select Board has made with the efforts of myself and my fellow Selectmen.
What's your dream job if you could pursue any career other than the one you have chosen, and why?
My dream job would be to accomplish the education requirements of a Juris Doctorate and be responsible for bringing a private company into the public markets. I have always been in awe of the market value and unbelievable size of a mega cap corporation such as Apple or Verizon. I began my educational journey due to this bewilderment and trying to understand how it’s even possible to grow to that scale. Being the business professional to accomplish such a feat would be extremely rewarding for me personally.
Who would you want to play you in a movie about your life? What would the movie be titled?
I would love to be depicted as Hugh Jackman - more like from Wolverine instead of The Greatest Showman. A muscular, handsome chap who is gruff and tough, but only on his bad side. The movie would be titled: Against All Odds. The reason is because I have always been handicapped or given less opportunity than others but I still always find a way to win.
What person (alive or dead) would you most like to meet, and why?
I would love to have a long conversation with Steve Jobs, founder of Apple. He was an obsessive visionary that found a way to disregard thousands of naysayers and ultimately created a dynamic and transformative company. Jobs and Apple essentially bootstrapped mobile technology with beautiful product design and aesthetics combined with performance. He single handedly saved the music industry and created one of the most successful companies in America and perhaps the world. He was an impressive individual and my kind of person.
Tell us one thing that most people would be surprised to learn about you.
In a past life I was an aspiring musician that went to college for musical engineering and a member in various bands or groups. My contribution to these groups was vocals, songwriting and production. I believe I am a ‘good’ singer and there was a time I could write rap lyrics and perform them. I am basically a human jukebox and know the song lyrics to hundreds, if not thousands of songs from all genres and generations.
Kermit R. Williams, Chair (2026)
What do you most enjoy about serving on the Select Board?
I like the intellectual stimulation of this job. The issues we deal with and the decisions we have to make are so varied. The subjects are often complex and nuanced. I think it’s important to understand each issue well, collect supporting data to make a decision, and be able to defend the choice I make. We work in so many different areas, from public safety to planning to paving to purchasing – and that’s just the Ps!
What is your dream job if you could pursue any career other than the one you have chosen, and why?
I would have enjoyed being a teacher, at either high school or college level. Besides the intellectual stimulation that I mentioned above, young people have so much curiosity and youthful exuberance. Being around them makes me feel younger, too, something I value more and more as time goes on, for some reason.
Who would you want to play you in a movie about your life? What would the movie be titled?
Maybe Tom Hanks, with a title of The Accidental Selectman. However, I wouldn’t want him on an island with a long beard talking to a soccer ball. That would be too close to home…
What person (alive or dead) would you most like to meet, and why?
There are many, many people that I would love to talk to in the world, so for this purpose I would pick a Wilton connection. I would love to be able to talk to David A. Gregg. His father built the house I am living in, and his family owned it for many years. He built the library and the Masonic Temple, had a very successful business in Nashua, and retired in Wilton Center. He was a State Representative and Selectman while he lived in Wilton. The Greggs that descended from David included two New Hampshire governors, a U.S. Senator, and the founders of many successful organizations including New Hampshire Magazine and Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center. It would be fascinating to hear his thoughts about Wilton, then and now.
Tell us one thing that most people would be surprised to learn about you.
My career before politics was managing large teams of software engineers and related staff, as many as 200 at a time. I led projects developing engineering design tools that made hundreds of millions for my company. My teams were all around the world, and I would often spend weeks in China, Europe, Japan, Canada, California, or elsewhere, working with my staff and meeting customers. Now, I’m content to stay on Burns Hill Road with occasional trips to Concord.
Thomas Schultz (2027)
Select Board member Schultz has not yet submitted his answers.